Hear Me Roar!
by GERGE
Summary: When Naruto goes back in time to save the world from the Kyuubi vessel, he finds himself in strange world where he is the vessel! Not a slash, Shikamaru and Naruto are the guys whose points of view I am using.
1. Chapter I

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter I - In which a prologue is made and various facts are explained**

_I cannot conceal from myself the anxiety which grips my heart at this moment. I close my eyes in painful concentration and bring my hands together in ram seal to channel my chakra. My shadow-self appears in the middle of the seal matrix I've been drawing on the onyx stones of the basement floor of the tower. I prepare myself._

_In my studies of summoning and time, of sealing, I've discovered that affecting the time is easy. As a matter of fact, every chunin learns how to do it in the form of body flicker which is essentially slowing time a little bit while fastening how we perceive it a lot more. Traveling in time is somewhat harder, but not much. Every summoning uses pocket dimensions that are created and destroyed almost instantly to go out of our reality and enter it again at a desired point and time. Time aspect of it is rarely used because, while it is easy to archive it, it is immeasurably harder to remain there. One might almost say impossible. While that goes to prove that matter and energy of the universe is finite and unchangeable, the thing we must pay attention is the word almost. There is a small window of opportunity to act. A second at most, but sufficient for me. But, again, all of this is just theory._

_I look at my shadow. Take a few steps forward and put my left hand on the the trigger of the matrix. I pour all the chakra I can in._

_Everything that is becomes that isn't..._

_Namikaze Naruto  
_

_

* * *

_

...or not. I could not really know. Last thing I remember is how he (I) looked at me like kicked puppy searching for forgiveness for something he didn't do.

Then I woke up here.

A child's body. Check. Shadow possession must have worked then. Since I didn't invented it yet, let me explain what it is. It basically works like Yamanaka's body possession but instead of doing it yourself, your shadow clone does it. Clone loses its matter in the process and becomes pure chakra energy existing within target body. While it sound awesome, it really isn't. The clone can't control the body he is in. Not while the target is still in. Foreign shadow clone chakra can't exist within the target body since the body's chakra of life is already there. What it can do is to take control of a newly died, not much damaged corpse, or the body of an another possessor like a Yamanaka until the real owner returns.

But what if I (he) send a clone to possess myself, what would happen then. Having the same chakra of life, will the two chakras merge? I guess you already know the answer. Just let me correct a little mistake you might have made: Instead of merging, the older, more powerful chakra will take over. When you create a shadow clone you send a tiny part of you chakra of life. That is what enables you to take the memories clone has. But my younger self had not sent anything out, so there were nowhere to return to and thus I have replaced him completely. Somehow I am a living Naruto now. I know that because I can feel my chakra replenish.

So, a child's body. Check.

It is everything else that is wrong.

For starters, I were going to save the world from the Kyuubi vessel and somehow I am the vessel now!

What the fuck is going on here?


	2. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**  
**  
Chapter II - In which things got messed up**

Someone is knocking on my door. At last! Three days passed since I am.

"Naruto! Are you there?" comes a shrill scream. Ino? One down. Let's see who's the other two is?

I pass through the room and open the door. There she is, and ow...

She hit me in the stomach and, actually, that's good!

"What the hell are you doing?" I complain, knowing full well why.

Angry girl comes in, Shikamaru stands at the door and Asuma follows her. I start throwing up. Everything is going according to the plan.

Ino jumps back with a scared face.

"Sensei, I didn't hit him that hard! I swear!" she manages to say fearfully. I made a noise of agreement within the mess I am making and point my finger to the spoilt milk standing on the table. I did not drink it, of course, but since there is no medical ninja here so I believe I am good.

Asuma walks to the table, takes a look to the milk. A look of pity and anger passes through his face for a moment. I must be treated like a regular vessel then. Most likely he thinks that's the only milk I could find and probably he is right.

I stop what I am doing and sit on the floor.

"You shouldn't hit me in the stomach Ino." I complain. "And what the hell are you doing here?"

She mutters something so soft to hear, blushing. It is Asuma who answers:

"We're you new team. Go wash yourself. We will be waiting here."

I nod wearily and do as the man says. I return back after washing my mouth and changing my clothes. I seem to have an endless supply of orange jumpsuits. Surprisingly, the mess I have made is gone. Seeing the wet arms and furious face of Ino, I wisely decide not to mention it.

"I'm sorry." I apologize, "I tried to come but I couldn't stand right and my stomach isn't that well."

Asuma nods and asks:

"Will you be okay tomorrow?"

"I think so..." I answer.

"Team meeting at nine in the training ground eight, then." he says and disappears with a body flicker, leaving me alone with my new teammates. Cruel, cruel Asuma!

"Er..." I mutter, willing a look of innocent and naivete on my face. "Do you want to sit? I am afraid I don't have anything to offer but instant ramen. I never have guests." Emphasis on never and a hint of hopefulness with guests.

Shikamaru shakes his head and comes in, closing the door behind him with a pointed look at Ino. They sit to the only sofa I have. I pull a chair from the table standing in the middle of the room and sit facing them. I groan softly when my back hits the hard chair. Shikamaru gets up and makes me sit to his place at sofa. Ino looks at me vexed when I sit next to her but says nothing.

So far, so good!

"I've heard something happened with you and Mizuki-sensei. What's it?" the girl asks. Who the fuck is Mizuki? Must be a chunin instructor at the academy. I stopped going there after my father killed the third assassin in front of the other kids at the fifth day.

"There is nothing I can say." I answer. When in doubt, claim it is classified.

"Mizuki-sensei is missing" Shikamaru says.

An uncomfortable silence reigns in the only room of my house apart from the bedroom and bathroom.

Well, let's get it out of way first. I don't think Shikamaru will have any problems with it but I am not so sure about Ino. At least she is still here.

"Is the Nine Tails a problem for you?" I ask. Ino's face takes a weirded out look and Shikamaru suddenly wears an intense look of frowning interest. I don't know why but I feel like I did something extremely stupid. A sense of anxiety starts to fly in the room.

"What Nine Tails, Naruto?" asks Shikamaru with a soft tone that could cut through cold iron like a silent blade. The anxiety comes and sits on my torso.

I messed up utterly, didn't I?

* * *

_-This morning-_

A kunai passes over the morning moon. At least, he thinks so. Ever slowly, kunai turns into a ship and imaginary sails are raised. Sun is still low and and boy is laying on the ground looking into the profound eyes of the sky. The ship goes though the zinc face of the heavens and dissipates slowly into an ocean. He hears a crunching sound. There is a fine electric activity in it.

"Want some?" asks a voice. The boy turns from the vastness of the sky to the vastness of his friend.

"Sure," he answers taking one. "What do you think about this one?" he says pointing an elusive cloud he cannot put a shape into with his free hand. Portly boy next to him stops eating for a little while and lays to the ground.

"The one over the Hokage Tower?" he asks.

"Yes, that one. What do you see?" comes the answer.

Portly boy thinks for a while, crosses appearing on his brow. The cloud looks like an ox, but he knows that no food related answer will satisfy his little boned friend. Maybe it looks like a wind dragon? Is it even possible to create a dragon from the wind?

"A wind dragon." he says anyway. The boy grumbles a bit when he hears his friend and there it is: another cloud to dream about. This one looks like a stairway. He dreams of a way up to heavens and climbs it. There is an angel there who just looks like his mother.

"I am just dreaming of you, Shikamaru." she says. "But if you don't wake up and go to the team selection I will be very cross with you."

"Team selection, Shikamaru. Team selection..." the boy hears another voice overlapping his mother's. He opens his eyes. The moon is gone and the Sun is already on the top, sending needles into his eyes.

"I don't really want to go." He says, rising from where he lays to sit, rubbing his eyes.

"We should go Shikamaru. Come on." The portly boy stands up and extends a hand towards him. The boy grasps it and pulls himself up. They start to walk to the stairs on their left, down the stairs and to the academy after that.

----oooo----oooo----

A knight in bondage he is and in a far away land he lives. His spirit dreams that his frocks look like the romantic rags of King's beggar-knight. But then, when he looks to the spirit in the glass, he does blush and he does brush to red his dreams. A hand he feels then, making him shake like a drunken sailor on a pay day.

"...up, Shikamaru..."

The boy groans and opens his eyes. Did he dreamed?

"Sensei is going to announce the teams now." his big friend explains. He looks to the Iruka-sensei. He is talking about responsibility and various related things. _Finish it already_, he thinks.

"... Team 7; Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Choji. Team 8; Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino. Team 10; Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto."

"I am sorry Choji." he says when the Sensei finishes. He looks really sad. Choji doesn't answer. He looks around, trying to find his teammates. There Ino is. Glaring daggers to an overjoyed Sakura. Where is Naruto?_ Naruto isn't here_.

"Choji, have you seen Naruto? I thought he failed." he asks his sad friend.

"No, I thought so, too. I should go talk with Sasuke anyway. See you!" answers Choji. Shikamaru can tell that he is trying to look happy but failing.

He nods and puts his head to the table, trying to catch some sleep until his new sensei com...

"...MARU!" he jumps reflexively when he hears the scream. He looks up to see a blond, angry head.

"What a drag... Why are you screaming Ino?"

"Sensei is here, and Naruto is still nowhere to see." she answers pointing a finger to their new sensei. "His name is Sarutobi Asuma."

"Do you know where is Naruto, Shikamaru?" his new sensei asks with a worried look on his face. He shakes his head as a no. "Let's go visit him then." the sensei says.

"We will never reach anywhere if we don't pull him, sensei." Ino says and suddenly jumps forward, takes his arm and starts to pull him towards the door.

"Damn it Ino! Stop pulling! I can walk." Shikamaru complains. Ino just looks at him with a beamish face, and starts running.

Team 7 is still in the room. Sakura dreaming, Choji eating, Sasuke brooding. He manages to wave his free hand to a still sad Choji before exiting the room after the girl.

Ino runs until they reach to the gates of the academy. They find Asuma-sensei waiting there.

"Follow me. Let's go to his house."

They walk silently through the Leaf. This is the first time he has seen Asuma, Ino he knows about like forever, but what does he know about Naruto? He was born at the day Nine Tails attacked. Probably lucky to live then. His parents died in the attack. He lives in a house? All by himself? He can't decide whether he is lucky or not. Adult don't like him. While that may be because of his pranks, he doesn't really thinks so. Whatever. He doesn't know much about him too.

Fifteen minutes later and now they are in a side of the Leaf he's never been before. Derelict houses all around them stands in silent vigil, as if trying to understand what business two clan heirs and Hokage's son might have here. Screams and curses come from the dark alleys all around. Sensei pays them no attention so Shikamaru ignores them too. Apparently this is the normalcy here. They stand in front of a particularly bad looking, abandoned building.

"He lives here." Asuma-sensei says. Not abandoned as it seems then. _Wait! _He thinks. _Naruto lives here!_

"What?" Ino voices his thoughts. Sensei just nods and enters the building. There are graffitis on the walls describing monsters and foxes. Writings that proclaim everyone who pays attention what a monster lives in this building. _A monster! What? _Shikamaru gets more and more confused by every floor they pass. He doesn't like being confused. It happens so seldom after all.

"Here." Sensei says when they get to the last floor. He looks back to see Ino. She looks winded and angry for having to run though all of the Leaf. She jumps to door with a sudden energy which comes from her weird femaleness. Or at least that is how Shikamaru thinks of the ungodly power women get when they are angry.

"Naruto! Are you there?" she screams shrilly as she pounds the door. The much abused door opens after a minute. There Naruto is, completely in orange too. Ino hits him in the stomach.

The house is very plain. A table with a couple of chairs stands in the middle of the room the door opens to. There is a small kitchen behind it with a sink and a small cooker with pots. A sofa on the right side of the table, and a door on the left side. There are leftovers from a breakfast probably a few days old on the table and tens of cup ramens in the open shelf over the small sink.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto screams, takes a few steps back, falls down to his knees and starts puking. Ino takes a few steps back too.

"Sensei, I didn't hit him that hard! I swear!" she mutters fearfully. Surprisingly, Naruto seems to agree too. He points his finger to the table where leftovers are. Ah! Spoilt milk. Asuma goes and takes a look. A look of anger passes through his face.

"You shouldn't hit me in the stomach Ino." Naruto says. Oh! He stopped poking. "And what the hell are you doing here?"

It is Asuma-sensei who answers:

"We're you new team. Go wash yourself. We will be waiting here."

Naruto gets up and walks though the door on the left. A bedroom. Probably his bathroom is in there too.

After Naruto closes the door Asuma-sensei turns to Ino and says:

"Clean this mess."

"What! No way!" screams Ino, her face getting red with anger.

"You made him puke, you will clean it." Emphasis on will. Many hours of long torturous training promise on the will. Shikamaru wisely decides to stay silent.

Ino, lips trembling in anger or embarrassment or both, walks to the sink, finds a cleaning rag in the shelf under it, pours some water to the one of the pots on the cooker, carries the rag and the pot to the vomit, crouches next to it and starts cleaning.

"Try to finish before Naruto comes." sensei says amused. When the thought of Naruto finding him like this goes though her mind she panics and begins to scrup furiously.

"Never... say... anything... about... this..." she says angrily, looking to Shikamaru. The boy just nods.

She finishes within a few minutes, cleans the pot and the rag, and puts them back to their palaces.

Naruto comes in one or two minutes later. Clean, but still covered in orange. How many of this jumpsuits he has?

"I'm sorry." sick boy apologizes, "I tried to come but I couldn't stand right and my stomach isn't that well."

Asuma nods and asks:

"Will you be okay tomorrow?"

"I think so..." Naruto answers.

"Team meeting at nine in the training ground eight, then." Asuma says and disappears with a body flicker, leaving Ino and Shikamaru alone with Naruto. Cruel, cruel Asuma!

"Er..." Naruto mutters, trying to look innocent - _like he could ever be innocent _thinks his guests in tandem when they see the look the sick boy adopts. "Do you want to sit? I am afraid I don't have anything to offer but instant ramen. I never have guests." Naruto says finally. Hinting that he never had guests before. Was that even possible? Surely, at least Iruka-sensei visited him before.

Shikamaru shakes his head confusedly and comes in, closing the door behind him, sending an inquisitive look to Ino. Together the sit on the sofa. Naruto pulls a chair from the table and sits in front of them. He groans when his back hits the hard back of the chair. Shikamaru takes pity on him and gets up.

"Come on Naruto, sit here." he says.

"But..." sick boy mutters, looking to Ino.

"What a drag... Just sit." he holds Naruto's right arm, helps him.

After the whole thing is done Ino asks Naruto:

"I've heard something happened with you and Mizuki-sensei. What's it?"

"There is nothing I can say." Naruto answer curtly. Is it classified?

"Mizuki-sensei is missing." Shikamaru adds, hoping for more information. Naruto says nothing.

For a while none of them says anything, but their silence is far from the comfortable silence of friends.

"Is the Nine Tails a problem for you?" Naruto asks suddenly. Nine tails? Shikamaru's mind goes into overdrive. He could see how Ino gets confused but for him things are starting to make some sort of sick sense. A terrible, terrible sense. His birthday, graffitis, the weird behavior of adults, the reason he is living alone, Asuma-sensei's worry... While he becomes more and more afraid of what he thinks, he can't help but ask:

"What Nine Tails, Naruto?"


End file.
